MFP Recruits at Indian Health Research Conference - April 23 – 26, 2006
MFP Advisory Committee Member Dr. Lillian Tom-Orme and Janet Jackson, MFP Program Manager, attended the 2006 Indian Health Research Conference, April 23 – 26, 2006 in Albuquerque, NM. The conference theme was “Discovering Pathways to Better Health for American Indians and Alaska Natives.” The keynote address, “The Surgeon General’s Report Mental Health: Race, Ethnicity and Culture – 5 Years Later,” was delivered by Spero Manson, PhD, Pembina Chippewa, Professor of Psychiatry and Head, American Indian & Alaska Native Programs, University of Colorado Health Sciences Center. Dr. Manson elaborated on the six major divisions among the planning committee which made it difficult to find middle ground:
Mental Illness vs. mental health
Emphasis on risk, cause, and treatment vs. prevention and promotion
Large scale population based surveys and randomized clinical trials as the standard bearers of scientific evidence
Variation related to gender, social class, and culture
Ethnicity and culture of dispositional variables of individual glosses as opposed to dynamic collective phenomena
Historical focuses that shaped the contemporary context for much of the discussion
Dr. Manson believes these divisions surface among all discussions on mental health, race, ethnicity and culture.
Return to Events